The need for safe drinking water covers the entire world's population. Non-potable drinking water is a major problem for much of the world's population. It has been estimated that approximately 15 to 20 million children under the age of 5 die from diarrheal conditions brought on by infected drinking water every year. This is equivalent to a fully-loaded DC-10 crashing every ten minutes of every day, 365 days a year
Heat is one of the most effective methods of disinfecting drinking water. Contrary to popular opinion, boiling water for many minutes or even hours is not necessary to successfully disinfect. Numerous investigations have been conducted to demonstrate that temperatures much lower than the sea level boiling point (100 C) can successfully disinfect drinking water. Heat inactivation of microorganisms is exponential with time. In general, disinfection times can range from instantaneous at 90 C to 20 minutes at 55 C. Using conventional means of heating water such as heating water over an open-flamed stove, results in an extremely energy-intensive process where as much as 1500 BTU per gallon of water can be required. In general, heating water from an ambient temperature to at least a 90 C disinfection temperature requires a minimum energy input of approximately 130 BTU/lb of water. This energy is usually wasted because once the disinfection temperature is reached, and the water is now safe to drink, the heat content of the water is dissipated to the environment before consummation.
Chlorine is considered the most well known technique for disinfecting drinking water. However, chlorine is a toxin that must constantly be replenished in order to be effective. As a replenishable chemical, there is always a continuing cost incurred.
Other techniques of disinfection such as membranes, resin beds, and the like, require electricity for operation. This source of energy may not be available at the site or would be too expensive when compared to this invention.
Thus, the need exists for a safe and inexpensive technique for disinfecting drinking water.